facade
by Karen19
Summary: Blair's p.o.v.Post TSbyBS. Blair hears stunning news from Jim, the events that then take place Jim's actions are atypical to Blair. Will make more sense when read. From A plot bunny site


I've been working on and off for several years, and this was chosen from a sentinel plot bunny site, its in italics

Heuradys  has a plot bunny. This is done from Blair's point of view, he's telling the story.

_My life changed, again, on Thursday afternoon at a few minutes before four. That's when Jim walked out of Simon's office and started packing up the few personal items he kept on and in his desk. His face was, oddly, expressionless. I couldn't read it at all._

I sauntered over, worried. "What's up, Jim?"

He glanced around the crowded bullpen, shot a glare at Simon's door, and then said quietly, "I've been let go."

"What?!" 

_"I've been fired, Chief, effective immediately."_

_My jaw dropped; I went pre verbal. "Uh... wow...wow...why?"_

_"I'd rather not talk about it here."_

_My guts were twisting, aching. "Well, I guess I'll go get my stuff."_

_He grabbed my arm. "Just me. Not you. You're still a detective, Sandburg_,_ just finish your shift and I'll let you know all the sordid details when you get home, I'll get something going for supper. See you, chief."_

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A few minutes later Jim walked out of the bullpen, carrying a small box of personal items, like he did that everyday. I have to say my first, and very temporary thought was to charge into Simon's office and ask what had just happened. Contrary to what most of the department would believe, I didn't think having both of us fired or suspended in just a matter of a few minutes be a good thing.

I'd been on several all-night stake outs with Jim while I was still an observer, many more since graduating from the academy, but I swear the remaining hour of my shift seemed to last longer than all those stakeouts combined.

During my time as observer I'd learned to 'read' Simon. I no longer call him Simon, unless we are off-duty. I usually call him what the other detectives do, Captain. Now that I was officially working with him I didn't expect him to call me into his office and explain what had just transpired. I knew it was pointless, he'd put out his 'do not disturb sign'--the blinds to his officer were closed and his door was shut. The biggest hint to all in the bullpen--Rhonda was taking all his calls.

It was now nearly five o'clock, and in the past hour I'd actually completed maybe five minutes of actual work. I'd powered down my computer when Captain Banks and the new Commissioner of Police finally left Simon's office, and neither looked happy.

Commissioner Joshua Franklin quickly acknowledged everyone's presence in the squad room like the good politician he was and then he left, leaving Simon to do his dirty work. Simon quickly got everyone's attention, his words shocked the group, "before you all head home, I need to tell you that Sergeant Noah Brady from Narcotics will be joining the unit--starting tomorrow."

"Where's he going to sit, we don't have any extra desks?" Henri asked, he and Rafe had been out interviewing witnesses when Jim left and they'd returned just a few minutes before the Captain and Commissioner left his office.

"He'll take Ellison's desk. Jim's no longer a member of the Cascade Police Department." Each person in the room looked like they'd been pole-axed.

There were looks and murmurs of astonishment and a even a few gasps. I at least had some time to try to process the information, but hearing it from Simon's was still mind-boggling and somehow final.

"Ellison was let go by the department people." First there was total silence, then everyone was talking at once. Simon put up his hand, quieting everyone before he continued. "People, I will tell you there was just cause. Yes, the union's been notified, and if Jim really wants to fight it, which I doubt, then he may be re-instated. That's all I'm saying about the matter. As it's the end of the day, everyone go home." This was the Simon nobody, but nobody, messed with. This Simon Banks didn't show up very often, we knew when this Simon was present to be good little soldiers.

Simon stalked to his office, he looked like he'd break in two, anyone stupid enough to question him further so I wasn't surprised nobody actually followed Simon to his office. For Darryl's sake I was glad he was away at school, I knew Simon wouldn't be a pleasant man to be around tonight, I knew I wasn't a happy camper myself.

Instead of the captain, everyone started talking to the only other person who might have any information--me. Rafe took point, asking me if I knew anything, so I gave him and all the others, the 411 on what little I knew; about an hour and a half earlier that afternoon Simon had received yet another visit from Commissioner Franklin. Only moments after Franklin's arrival Simon had bellowed for Ellison to get into his office ASAP. Whatever transpired in the office had started out at full volume and stayed there; obviously I couldn't hear exactly what was being said. Not for the first time I wished for Jim's hearing. It seemed to me that Jim was just as speaking as loudly as Simon. At the time I didn't think that much about it, because things had seemed strained between Simon and Jim for weeks. Before Jim's stunning announcement I'd been looking, unsuccessfully, for a lead on my latest case.

Megan, Joel, and Rhonda; the three who'd been in the squad room at the time agreed with me; the 'conversation' had been quite loud between Simon and Jim. It was public knowledge in Major Crimes, make that the precinct that Simon and Jim had hit a a rough patch lately; it seemed to me, and the others, Simon was getting on Jim's case for the little things. I figured Jim was up for a promotion of sorts, and Simon wanted him to look good for the brass. Not that Jim would take the promotion. He'd told me he didn't really want to deal with the paperwork that being a captain entailed, and he knew that it was a matter of time before he was relegated to a desk job, just because of his years on the force.

No one paid any attention that Commissioner Franklin was there, again, the guy had been in Simon's office several times in the past few weeks, no, the past few months. That or Simon had been in his office.

I told them, that when Jim came out of Simon's office, he'd gone straight to his desk and gathered his personal belongings. He told me he'd been fired and would explain everything to me, later. Before I could ask him anything else he'd left, escorted by Lt. Sam Barton from IA who'd been waiting, patiently, in the hallway to make sure Jim left the building peacefully and with nothing he shouldn't. I thought that it was an unnecessary humiliation, as Jim had served Cascade as a police officer and as a Sentinel for close to a decade. I had to give the IA officer some credit, he made it appear like the two of them were just having a conversation. Barton was about the only IA officer they liked, I personally thought he should be cloned, as he treated any officer as innocent until proven guilty, when most of the others in IA seemed to act just the opposite.

Inspector Megan Connor, the exchange officer from Australia, stirred a nearly boiling pot a little further, by commenting "this new Commissioner; he's cleaning up the department. He's gone over every officer's file; and if there's any discrepancy you can't easily explain; you're on administrative leave. So far three officers are already on leave; I think Jim's the only one who's been terminated."

My cell vibrated, and I'd would've ignore it, but it was ours; Jim's and mine unlisted and unpublished number that was on the display. I knew that everyone, including myself, wanted more information, and Jim just might give me a tidbit so I answered the phone, letting the others know who I was talking with a "Hey Jim." I was about to say something else but Jim was first.

"Tell the others I'll get together with them soon, you'll explain it to them later tonight. I'll tell you, then you'll let them know--it's not because of my senses. I just can't face everyone tonight." I was about to interrupt his train of thought, but Jim barreled on. "Chief, Dad and Steven are coming up the stairs, I need to let them know about this before this makes the news, Bye." I realized he wasn't kidding as the next noise I heard was the dial tone, Jim had hung up on me.

I told them Jim would let them know when he was ready to talk--until then I asked that they keep their distance; I'd know more when I got home--hopefully. We agreed to meet later. And we'd use the phone tree. "Listen, I don't know anymore than you do, whatever it is must be big. Jim doesn't want to talk.

I think the only reason I was even told is because Jim and I are roommates. I was curious, "don't the military do background checks for some of the things Jim did?" Everyone nodded. "Shouldn't this have been caught earlier?" Whatever this was. I knew it took a lot for an officer to get fired. Not without the union throwing a hissy fit.

Everyone, including myself, left the squad room. I recalled just a little too late that I'd ridden to work with Jim. Fortunately Henri was at the elevator; he'd remembered I was without a vehicle before I did, and told me he'd drop me off on his way. Prospect Avenue wasn't far out of his way to his son's daycare. Soon I was dropped off in front of the building. Somehow we'd actually hit all green lights going home so I was home earlier than I'd expected.

I'd seen the other Ellison cars and sincerely hoped Jim was done talking with them as I so didn't want to interrupt what had to be a very awkward conversation. One advantage to Jim's sentinel hearing, he knew when I was nearing the apartment and would most likely wrap up the conversation before my arrival. If Jim didn't open the door right off, I'd knock. I was just about to put the key into the lock when the door opened the door. Jim was there. What was surprising was the look on his face.

"Chief you sure made good time," he grinned "how far didja get before remembering that heap of yours was in the shop again?" I ignored the jibe to my beloved vehicle.

"Bill. Steven, its nice to see you again, even if it's not under the best of circumstances." The two seemed shell-shocked and Steven looked disappointed; whatever Jim had told them had shaken him badly. What had Jim done that caused this reaction from his own family and had managed to get him kicked off the force after years of service?

"Blair, I take it from the look on your face you've no idea." Steven looked at his brother. "Jim, I really hate to run out on you, tonight of all nights, but I promised Sherrie I'd be there over a month ago. Call me if you need anything even if it's just a listening ear. Dad, I'll see you later."

I could see Steven really wanted to stay and help Jim, a complete turnaround from the brother who had ignored his existence. Steven had promised his daughter he'd be at her recital. He'd felt guilty about missing programs because of work before, and had promised his daughter he'd be there this time. He was making a considered effort to break the cycle of dysfunction in his family. Jim was secretly pleased to see his brother wasn't falling into the same workaholic patterns their father had, he planned to take his brother up on the call in the days to come. He needed his family tonight, and family was the only excuse for Steven not being here for him.

"Jimmy, I regret what I did. If I'd listened to you then; you wouldn't be in this fix now." Bill said, he had his 'business' face on. I couldn't read him, but I could tell by his body language he was shocked at the news. William Ellison had said that I should call him Bill. His friends called him Bill when not in business suit situations. If we were at a charity function, and we ran into Jim's dad, I'd call him William, in private, it would be Bill.

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"Dad, I should have checked it out when I applied to the department. I'm to blame for most of this, these things happen." Jim was eerily calm about the situation, whatever it was, taking it much better than his either his father or brother, or me for that matter. I still had no idea what the reason for his dismissal was.

I really wanted for someone to tell me what was going on. It didn't help that both senior and junior Ellison were equally talkative; in other words, naturally close-mouthed. This meant I'd get nothing from either until they were ready With their past history Bill actually surprised me with his comment to Jim.

"If you want to fight this, I'll help you any way I can. My offer still stands, you can work for the company, I might be retired, but I still have some say as to who I want hired. Jim I really hate to leave, but I promised Sherrie I'd watch her tonight. I know I messed up with you boys. I'm trying to change, besides Steven doesn't know it but Sherrie has a solo in one dance. I'll record it and send a copy over to you tomorrow." Bill Ellison then astounded me by giving his son a quick hug. It might have been an awkward hug, but a fatherly hug nonetheless.

While Bill left I put my coat in my room and locked my gun away. We never knew when Jim's niece or nephew would stop by for a visit, we didn't want either of them having access to any guns. Besides, it was the law for all officers to have their weapons in a lock box while at home.

"Okay Jim what happened?! Is it because of the sentinel stuff? because if it is I'm going to resign!"

"I told you on the phone it had nothing to do with my senses; they had legitimate cause to "terminate my employment forthwith". To tell you the truth I'm ready to do something different. I'm going to stay here; I know I'm the Sentinel of Cascade. It might be a difficult finding a job when the news breaks as to why I left the department, I just might take Dad up on his offer--or I might not. But I want to see if I can find something on my own." For Jim this was a long speech.

"Jim, you still haven't told me why?" I was starting to get exasperated with my friend and roommate. He led me into the living room and we sat on the couch, actually I sat on the couch, he sat in his recliner.

Jim proceeded to tell me the story. I thought I knew everything about him, but this --this he'd never told me. I never saw this coming.

After letting him tell his story, without interruptions I might add, I told him just what his father had--there were grounds to fight his dismissal.

Jim's phone rang and he answered it. I sat there listening to the conversation on this end. I was stunned because of who it was.

"Yes, you heard right I was let go…without my pension…no, I wasn't arrested….I'll let you know Mr. Cueva…I've got an offer from Dad I don't think I'll take it. I'll talk with you tomorrow…at 12:30…Pike Street Market near the flying fish. Bye"

"Bad news sure travels fast. Is that Hans Cueva, the mobster from Seattle? Why are you meeting him?"

"He says he's stayed legit after doing his time. Wants me to head his security department, everyone he used to have he's to stay away from as a matter of probation. Besides, I only have to hear him out; I don't have to take it, if I don't like it."

I couldn't really blame Jim for at least checking out the unexpected job offer, if he went to work for Ellison Enterprises just after being fired from the Police Department it would easily be construed as nepotism. On the other hand, working for a known felon would just cement his image of a bad cop.

Neither of us was very hungry for obvious reasons, but Jim had homemade soup going before his dad and brother arrived. Martha Ellison, Steven's wife brought it over last night, Jim just had to bring it to a simmer.

I knew others were going to be just as surprised as I was, if not more so, by the revelations of Jim's past; and frankly the news sapped my appetite, likely for a few days. We ended up putting most of the soup into the refrigerator for later consumption. Like I said neither of us was very hungry that night. Jim had the news on, the game would start soon, and Jim had been waiting all week to watch the game.

I wasn't surprised to see the local newscast at 6:30 lead with the announcement that I'd hoped they'd wait til morning to release; cop of the year Jim Ellison had been let go by the department for "undisclosed reasons". The department had taken no questions in their short press conference.

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The members of Major Crimes had figured out on their own that Jim was a Sentinel. After my press conference they all went to bat for me, and in my opinion, they went to bat for Jim. Neither of us could ever repay them for what they did for us. A recuperating Megan had the time and she'd been the one who'd researched, and then approached the media; she asked them point-blank. Why was Blair fired from the university for something he'd said was not ready for publication. They had not listened to me, and released, along with Berkshire Publishing my nearly completed document., all I had needed to do before turning it in to the university was to take Jim's name out and enter, subject.

It had been decided amongst Major Crimes, that Megan was the one that was the least to lose their job if the department didn't approve, the worst case she'd have returned to Australia which was why she offered to be the intermediary between the media and the police.

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Ten days after my press conference, the city of Cascade was rocked by a scandal I'd inadvertently began with my impulsive press conference. The print and electronic media eagerly stated that Rainier University was complicit in releasing my dissertation, along with Sid Graham and the publishing company against my wishes. That was just the tip of the investigation's iceberg.

The uproar over the incident from the public, who apparently didn't mind Jim's senses were exceptional, led to Randall's dismissal as Chancellor; she wasn't the only one in the university administration whose job was terminated by the time the microscope of public scrutiny was finally lifted on Rainier University nearly a month later, Randall was just the one with the most seniority, and whose name would forever be linked to the scandal.

It was just happenstance that an in-depth review of the university's leadership was being done by two energetic up and coming, yet gaining respect, reporters from the local paper at the same time. Our very own local Woodward and Bernstein had been put off with the preferential treatment Brad Ventriss had received from the university earlier. They'd slowly worked on assigned stories until they were able to get all the proof they needed. They were the ones who found that Randall was the guiding force in the acceptance of money from Ventriss and others in exchange for keeping quiet about various academic and financial irregularities of certain wealthy students at the university. The university had allowed certain students to remain on campus when students from less wealthy homes were kicked out for the same acts. They had been quietly gathering information since the time they were both students at Rainier.

It came to light that Chancellor Randall had personally ordered my immediate expulsion from the university over the strenuous objection of the dissertation committee. She hadn't liked me in my undergraduate years before my involvement with Jim, I'd been the only student who'd successfully filed a complaint against her while I was a sophomore. My status as a police observer had further strained what fragile relationship we had. She'd unsuccessfully tried after the Ventriss incident to get me ousted as a teaching assistant and a graduate student. Randall was just plain lucky she didn't land in prison for her actions. The last I heard; she was teaching at a school in the Caribbean, no school here in the states wanted to be associated with her. My how the mighty have fallen.

Since the very public announcement of Jim's abilities certain defense attorneys as well as others had raised a stink; saying that Jim's use of his senses was circumventing a person's right to privacy. But we'd been crossing every T and dotting every I ever since the fiasco in the courtroom years before, making sure we had the evidence to back up each and every one of Jim's finds, so that furor didn't last long. Most of the time the judge would overrule any objections from a defense attorney. There hadn't been any objections to Jim's testimony for close to a year.

I'd finished my dissertation on the thin blue line a few weeks before the press conference and after the hubbub that followed had subsided I'd gone before the dissertation committee and awarded my doctorate. This, along with the former commissioner's recommendation allowed me to graduate from the academy as a detective. The only proviso, I had to be a patrol officer for the first three months. The commissioner made sure I was stationed at the central precinct, so I'd be able to get to Jim quickly if need be. At the academy I was able to test out several classes of because of my time with Jim and other detectives in Major Crimes. What harassment I'd received from other students ended quickly when they realized I knew what to do, and who'd taught me.

When the department needed a forensic anthropologist I'd get called in, but in the four years since I'd been called on just twice. It was a nice bonus to my paycheck when I'm used in that capacity. The only time I went by Doctor Blair Jacob Sandburg was when I testify in court in that capacity. I occasionally give lectures at Rainier, usually once a term. I do occasionally lecture in the Seattle Tacoma area, even the Tri-Cities, and Spokane. I try to book those far in advance, to make sure I don't have to cancel because of some case that I'm on with Jim.

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Getting back to Jim, I called Joel, who'd get the ball rolling, and call everyone else, I told him to meet me at Kelly's café in twenty five minutes.

Jim knew he'd be hounded, as the news had been released, he told me to tell them that he just wanted to be left alone. I really couldn't blame him. His life had just imploded. Years of commendable service to his country, and his hometown were negated by one foolish mistake he'd made as a teen.

Soon Major Crimes was at the diner, That was, everyone but Simon and Jim. We were at the all-night diner, and apparently none of us were very hungry, since nobody ordered anything but coffee. Joel asked the question all were dying to ask me for hours ever since the bombshell Simon had sprung at the station.

"Why'd they fire Jim, not just put him on leave? They don't have many causes for outright termination or the union would be all over them, if they didn't show just cause." Joel was the one speak, and as former captain of the bomb squad he knew what it took to get an officer terminated.

I told them what Jim had told me. "Franklin's henchmen dug up something. It's something Jim thought had been cleared up years ago. Obviously it wasn't, he assumed it was, since he had to pass more than a few background checks while he was in the Army. Franklin has been verified that he, Jim, lied on his application, which is one of the grounds for immediate dismissal."

"What did he lie about?" Megan urged."Allegedly" she amended when we all gave her the evil eye. You'd think that as cops, we'd remember to use that word.

"Jim thought his juvenile record was sealed and erased but it wasn't." I hoped I didn't have to tell them the whole shocking story I'd been given not more than an hour earlier.

"What did he do, steal a car?" Rafe joked, the laughter died when they saw my reaction.

"According to the Pierce County and state of Washington records, he did. That and DUI."

"What?!" the crowd roared at this amazing revelation. The waitress looked us with a look that said 'if you want to stay please keep it quiet, I don't want to make you leave.' We all were quiet.

"Jim told me, just before he turned 18, he and a friend went down to Tacoma, and they "borrowed" the friends father's car. Mr. Ellison had taken away the keys to Jim's car while he was on a business trip, Jim had been grounded for something trivial, Pete's dad was also on a business trip and supposed to be gone for a week."

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I knew I had them hooked, as they weren't even taking a sip of their coffee. A teacher, especially at the university level knows when he had the class eating out of the palm of his hand. This was one of those times. I took a sip of my coffee and started to explain.

"I'm quoting Jim 'you have to realize Pete's dad wasn't a man to cross.' Apparently Jim and Pete skipped their last class of the day, and headed down to Tacoma where Pete's girlfriend had just moved. She brought a friend with her. The four were all drinking beer and feeling no pain, Jim knew his father was returning home the next day, the next day was Jim's birthday, it was a given with the Ellison boys that they'd have supper at the country club. No matter how strained things got in that household. Jim had been grounded and he knew he needed to be back in Cascade before his dad returned.

William had threatened to ship Jim to Alaska right after graduation if he committed another infraction of his house rules. William knew a friend of a friend who was a guide, the guy needed an assistant for the summer. William thought it would be punishment as he doesn't like to go camping. He didn't realize that Jim would have loved the solitude of the Alaska wilderness. Jim told me "never mind I was about to turn eighteen, and could legally tell him to go fly a kite." We all knew Jim would have been a great hunting and fishing guide. If he hadn't gone down the path of life he had, he very well may have been a guide.

The waitress came by asking us if any of us wanted a refill on our coffee, some of us did, soon we were left alone. I continued to tell them what I could of Jim's story.

By the time they headed back to Cascade Pete was too drunk to drive; and Jim was over the legal limit as well, just barely but he was intoxicated. He drove, Pete passed out in the passenger seat next to him. "They were nearly to the I-5 when Jim ran a red light--right in front of an countie mountie." Each of the officers had their share of stops like that under their belts.

It did explain one reason why Jim was so strict about not driving if he had alcohol in his system. Or anyone in his group. He'd been caught as a teen drinking and driving.

The looks on everyone's face was incredulous, they wanted to know more, I could tell. "Jim told me his story gets worse. Pete's dad returned home early from his trip, he was quite unhappy to see his beloved car missing, by the time the officer near Tacoma ran the plates on the car, it was considered stolen. Jim knew that Pete was in no shape to explain they'd taken the car. According to Jim, Pete's dad would've beat Pete for taking it. Mr. Rowland didn't know Jim heard him abuse Pete, not only mentally, but Jim also saw the physical abuse, and the signs of it. This was years before laws required teachers and others in authority to report suspected abuse. Besides who'd believe a kid who wasn't even in the house at the time of the alleged abuse?"

The look on my fellow detectives face and Rhonda's was utter shock.

"As the driver Jim was given a field sobriety test, and he failed it. They arrested him for not only for the DUI, but also for grand theft auto. He knew Pete was too afraid of his father to tell them that he took the car. It had been Jim's idea to take the Rowland car in the first place. Jim couldn't take his car as William had checked the odometer on Jim's car as well as his own before leaving town. There was no way the teens could have taken an Ellison vehicle.

Jim knew he was still considered a juvenile, as the charges he was facing had taken place while he was seventeen, he'd be in less trouble with the police than Pete, who'd already turned eighteen. Jim was quickly processed and taken before the night court judge.

Shortly after midnight he was in front of Judge Carver, which even in Jim's still inebriated state knew meant trouble. Carver and his father were roommates in college and had been close friends at one point, they'd had a falling out several years earlier when he ruled against Ellison Enterprises in some legal manner. Carver knew Jim was now eighteen, as it was after midnight. The offenses had occurred when Jim was a juvenile so the judge gave Jim three choices; do serious time in juvenile hall, do a few months in adult jail, with a long probation, or join the Army. Carver told him that if Jim did the latter, his record would be sealed. Quoting Jim 'I think he knew it would tick off my father for me to blow off college.' You know all know that Jim went to college after basic, as they thought he had officer potential."

"Well we know what option he chose" Joel commented.

"Carver told Jim if he didn't join up within the next week, he'd be arrested. Jim was freed on his own recognizance and Jim caught the last bus of the night to Cascade. Pete's dad had come to take his car and his son home. Jim arrived home, so no one knew when he got home. Until yesterday Jim thought all the paperwork filed with the county showed he that this had occurred while he was a juvenile, not an adult.." I took another sip of coffee, gathering my thoughts and letting what I'd said so far sink in.

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"As I said, Jim got home, with no one the wiser about five in the morning, he slept a few hours before going to see the Army recruiter. He signed up; and later that afternoon, when his dad got home Jim told him he'd enlisted, easily omitting his reason. Not unexpectedly Mt. St. Ellison erupted."

"I've known for as long as I've know Jim, that the weeks leading up to his high school graduation that the tension was almost visible at the Ellison household. This explains the reason. William insisting he forget about joining the military, h e wanted Jim to go to the University of Washington in the fall. Jim had already been accepted, the previous fall, in early admission. If it weren't for appearances sake William told me recently that he would 've kicked Jim out the house that very night.

Jim told earlier he never told Dad or Steven about his arrest. The day after graduation he left for basic, he didn't talk with his father for several years. Because he was 'officer material' and already accepted, the military paid for Jim to attend school, He timed it right, and didn't miss any school due to Army assignments. You know the rest of his story."

"What's he going to do now?" Rhonda asked the one question they were all dying to ask.

"You know that his Dad always wanted Jim working with him at Ellison Enterprise so Jim might do that, he has a job interview tomorrow with someone from Seattle, who heard about it on the news and called him at the loft. They must know each other from somewhere. I doubt Jim will take it as it'd be a really long daily commute. To tell the truth I don't know what Jim's going to do. I know he has a few months cushion, financially, as he invested the money pretty wisely from his back pay in Peru. After that?" I shrugged. I was as much in the dark about Jim's prospects as they were.

Rafe me asked why Pete Rowland couldn't just clear things up for Jim with the department, even at this late date.

"Jim told me that Pete died about ten years ago, it was a suicide, and the senior Rowland died while Jim was at the U Dub." So neither could help him out.

Conner then asked about Judge Carver. "He's at an assisted care facility, in Wenatchee. I think he has end-stage Alzheimer's, so he obviously can't corroborate."

"What about Jim's attorney, what did he have to say?" Rhonda asked.

"I realized if we could find him or her, they might be able to clear the matter up with Jim. Even if the case were over twenty years old." I laughed cynically " That won't work, people, Jim informed me that 'like an idiot I waived right to counsel.'"

There were groans when they heard this news,. his one last chance of reclaiming his badge appeared over. As tomorrow was a workday we all left the diner shortly after that information. We decided we would give the waitress a nice tip, considering we didn't order anything but coffee and she let us alone and didn't eavesdrop.

It turned out none of us slept well, too much strong coffee at the diner on top of unsettling news. I think Jim was the only one of us who slept well that night. I tossed and turned, while I was a grad student, when I had a night like this, I'd work on an assignment. I worked on an upcoming lecture until sleep forced me to bed.

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To my surprise in the morning, Jim had breakfast ready. "Thanks for filling the others in, tell 'em I'll be in touch, just give me time to find a job."

Like the morning before, I needed Jim to give me a ride as far as the station, my vehicle was in the shop and I was to pick it up after work that night. "Don't expect a great breakfast every morning. I was hungry and made enough for both of us." Jim said, then I noticed what he had on.

Jim was dressed conservatively, nicer in fact then when he went to court. He was heading to Seattle, I knew if he left now he'd be more than a a little early for his interview with Mr. Cueva, so maybe he was going to do some job searching while he was down there. It would be a bit of a commute, if the job were in northern Seattle area Jim wouldn't have to move. I liked the loft but couldn't afford it on my own. I knew I was Guide to Cascade, and wouldn't be moving unless absolutely necessary.

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Jim dropped me off a few blocks from the precinct. That way he could get on the freeway without backtracking. I walked the rest of the way, taking the time to stop and get a chai tea from my favorite vendor.

Because of a rash of home-invasion robberies in the ritzy Westhaven district we, Major Crimes, had been given the case to solve. It felt weird working without Jim, and I'd have to get used to it. Sure there'd been days when Jim was in court, or had the day off and I didn't, but now I'd be permanently partnered with Noah Brady.

At breakfast I'd promised Jim I'd give the department a year before leaving. He reminded me I didn't have to stay with Major Crimes if I didn't want to since he was no longer there.

I'd been with the department long enough to be eligible to transfer to any unit at any time. If it weren't for Jim and his senses, I might have transferred over to Narcotics; they'd "borrowed" me for a few undercover stings, and frankly, I liked it. If I ever found something outside the department, they wanted me to stay on as a consultant, as their forensic anthropologist.

I knew Jim hadn't zoned out for several months now, but I wouldn't be with him full-time anymore and I really hoped he'd remember the various techniques to bring himself out of a zone when no one was around who knew what to do.

Megan, Noah and I headed over to Westhaven, which turned out to be an upscale neighborhood a few streets from where Jim grew up. We'd noticed a pattern in the robberies that morning, and we were going back to clarify a few points.

Noah was well aware he was coming into the unit at a bad time. I knew he respected Jim and was doing his level best not to step on any ones toes. Noah was about my age, he'd joined the department upon graduation from Washington State University. He'd grown up in the apple orchards of Eastern Washington and he occasionally missed the slower pace of life.

He'd actually been the only person in years to beat Jim at the departmental fishing derby. He reminded me of a young, red-headed Bobby Simone of NYPD Blue; it was like crossing Rafe with Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham.

I'd been there for the initial investigation when we were given the case but Noah was the one who noticed a connection that might very well solve the crime. The old adage of a new pair of eyes, someone else looking at all the evidence was apparently true. Until recently the home invasion robberies only involved property. During the last robbery they apparently had bad intel, as the sixteen year old daughter returned home while the suspects were still in house. She said she was knocked out by the guys who'd done it. Noah noticed something in her statement everyone else missed.

Instead of heading to the high school, we headed to the location of one of the latest robberies. Today was a school holiday, good old in-service, and the victim was at home. Noah called her parents to make sure we could talk to her; we told them that we'd uncovered new information, and needed to verify with her, certain points. They'd meet us at the house to talk with her.

It turned out the teen and her 'posse' weren't satisfied with their already substantial and generous allowances, and had decided to add to it by 'invading' their own homes, taking items, making sure just enough damage and thefts occurred that insurance would cover the loss of the items. This scheme worked for awhile; they'd expanded to other houses as they were aware of the lack of security in certain residences, just to throw the police off their scent. They'd agreed nobody would 'do' their own home so that nobody would be home when the break-in occurred.

However they hadn't factored in cramps. Cara Carmichael had stayed home at the last minute, her period had started, and she was suffering from severe cramps. She'd willingly taken a hit over the head to confuse her parents and the police when the group had been at her home.

Unfortunately, for her, the knock on the noggin had done a bit of damage; with the resulting headache she wasn't as careful in her statement as she'd have been otherwise. She'd unintentionally gave us the clue, one we caught but days later.

As he'd been the one to crack the case, Noah had the honor of arresting her, with her parents 'prodding' she'd given up the names of everyone involved, including her older brother who was storing the items in his Rainier dorm until they could fence the items.

sssssssssssss

It was getting on 12:30; and I was curious how the meeting in Seattle was going. I still couldn't believe Jim was voluntarily meeting with a known felon. Years earlier Jim had been the one in an undercover stint responsible for the once respected businessman to be convicted. He'd been understandably upset when he'd realized his trusted driver was a cop. A driver who'd been privy to more than one conversation

Even with the seeming betrayal, Cueva regarded Jim as a good guy, told him he was doing what he was supposed to, he understood Jim had been under orders to ingratiate himself into his confidence. When he'd been released from the federal prison, Hans was determined to turn over a new leaf. There had been something about Jim Ellison Cueva admired and remembered.

With all the arrests, and subsequent interrogations along with the paperwork I was busy the rest of my shift barely having time to even think about calling Jim to see how things went.

I got home to find Jim had gotten a pizza and he was busy packing his overnight bag.

"Chief, I met with Hans"

"Its Hans now?" I interrupted, my eyebrows must have reached my hairline. Easier for me to do that than Jim.

I was ignored. "He wants me to be his driver like before, but this time I'm also his adviser/assistant. I know people here in Cascade, people he wants to do business with. Nice salary and benefits with the job. Better than the city could ever do." Jim had grumbled at times about the pay and he had the advantage of a trust fund.

" I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weeks; Hans is looking into moving headquarters here. I don't know if I'll going to make it home every night, I want to have a couple of changes with me just in case." I noticed Jim was packing his suits, all three of them. I'd look into a dry cleaner in Seattle like the one here, I'd ask first thing in the morning and let Jim know.

"Jim, you sure you know what you're doing. Working for this guy isn't going to be a sterling recommendation just after being tossed out on your ear by the p.d."

"Sandburg, I know the guy you don't" he growled.

"Jim I'm just looking out for your best interests as your guide and your friend."

"I know that, I know what to look out for to prevent a zone out. I've talked with Hans to tell him what to watch for.. If I appear to go into a zone, he'll call you or Megan; it was his idea, not mine."

That surprised me. Cueva didn't seem to be the type of guy who'd willingly have a couple of police officers come and help out one of his trusted employees. If anything he'd make sure the police and his employees didn't have any contact.

While we ate Jim told me what he'd be doing; he'd make sure his boss kept his nose clean, not having contact with those who'd make him break parole; he'd use his senses to keep Cueva safe. Hans Cueva had reason to take precautions. He'd made quite a few enemies in his lifetime.

I wasn't at all thrilled Jim was using his senses in this way, had the feeling Incacha would say the same thing if he were still alive. I knew a sentinel was to use his gifts for the community not just one man.

Jim could see, anyone could have seen, I wasn't overjoyed, but I was supportive for the time being.

Over the next few weeks Jim and I rarely saw each other. This could easily be attributed to our schedules. He stayed in Seattle overnight about half the time, and when he was home he was upstairs, on the phone, a majority of the time,

My caseload was fairly quiet it seemed like the 'most dangerous city in America' was become the 'least dangerous city in America' without a Sentinel on the force. I'd have thought it would be the other way around. Maybe it was the lull between storms.

Ssssssssssss

About six weeks passed and I was lucky to see Jim on the weekends; during the week, not at all. Noah and I just returned from interviewing witnesses in a jewelry store heist when Noah turned the radio up on his desk. As did Rhonda and Henri.

"In other business news Hans Cueva, president of Harmon Markus just announced the move of his headquarters to Cascade. As you may remember Cueva was convicted years ago for his participation in the Caldwell Towers project. This news came from Harmon Markus Senior Vice-president James Ellison delivered a statement to the press just minutes ago."

It was amazing how quiet a busy bullpen could get; everybody was listening to the radio. The quiet began when they heard Jim was now vice-president of the company. Rafe asked if I knew about it. I told him everyone all I knew was Jim was Cueva's driver/advisor/assistant.

One of the clerks who'd brought a file over from Narcotics muttered something about how far the mighty had fallen, and after the looks we gave him he scurried away like the rat he was. Problem was it we didn't entirely find fault in his statement.

ssssssssssssssssss

Jim and I continued to be roommates for the next few months. After the announcement of the impending company move we'd agreed we wouldn't, couldn't talk about work. I couldn't tell him about ongoing investigations, he was no longer a cop. I'd ask an occasional question to see how he'd proceed with a case but kept the facts to myself.

Jim changed over the next few months, in ways that really had me worried. He tended to be rough with people, not that he was mister cuddly before, it got to the point I didn't want to be with him in public situations. One Saturday morning we went for breakfast, and on the way home he pulled into an exotic car dealership and bought a sports car which would've taken me a lifetime to purchase when I was a TA and grad student. He'd never been a sports car guy before. He wrote the check out for the entire amount. I nearly passed out when I saw the amount he was writing.

He'd have a co-worker over for a meal, but they never talked about work. I had the feeling they didn't want me finding out what was actually going on with the company. As an officer I was required to investigate when crimes may have occurred. They knew that if I didn't know anything then I couldn't investigate. No zipped lips sank no ships.

As the summer progressed my caseload started to get busy once again.

It appeared there was new blood trying to muscle in on the Cascade gang's protection turf. We, the police, were making no headway on the investigation. Whoever was doing this knew exactly how far to push people, but not break any laws.

It was almost like Robin Hood was taking over the Mafia. It was agreed intimidation was occuring by this new group, and somehow they were keeping things above board and legal. If that were possible in that business. If any crimes were actually committed they were misdemeanors. If I didn't know Jim better than I did I'd say he was behind it. Problem was my innocent theory worked until Noah brought up the majorly annoying fact the 'takeover' started about the same time Jim joined Harmon Markus.

Things changed over the summer, and not for the better. For me, and for the city.

When an employee of Harmon Markus was brought in for questioning, Jim was there before any defense lawyers showed, as a buffer, making sure his employee didn't say a word. It seemed Jim would be at his intimidating best when he was protecting the alleged perpetrators. I was heartsick. I wasn't alone.

sssssssssss

By Labor Day I had been asked by fellow officers when I'd move. A few of the single guys, and gals wanted to know if I were willing to share a place with them. I think it was because there were some rumors the feds were about to get involved. I might be under suspicion just because of my association with Jim.

Attitudes had definitely changed since Jim's dismissal; he wasn't at all welcomed at the precinct and I was. The glares we'd given the clerk from Narcotics were now directed at Jim himself. When I'd been an observer I'd noticed the dirision on some officer's faces not anymore. If anything it was concern for me, and contempt for Jim.

What a difference a few years make. We might share an apartment, now it was we had the same address, but we did very little together unlike before when it seemed we were joined at the hip. Most of the time we saw each other at breakfast, if at all.

What I would have considered impossible before, I was warmly welcomed at William Ellison's home and Jim's presence was barely tolerated on the few times he actually showed his face.

I knew both William and Steven were flabbergasted by Jim's choice of employers. I'd been. They could understand why he didn't join the family firm. However, during the Fourth of July celebration Steven and Martha overheard the children, Sherrie and Scott, complain how Uncle Jim didn't visit anymore, and Steven requested I join them on the annual Ellison campout in the Canadian Rockies. The way they camped meant a top of the line RV. I'd been called Uncle Blair, which I liked; being an only child there'd be no one to call me uncle. The kids and I had a great time, Steven had sprained his ankle just before the trip and I did a lot with them he couldn't do for a few days. I missed Jim and I tent camping though.

ssssssss

The Monday after Labor Day Naomi showed up and my life went completely haywire. As if it hadn't already. She'd been out of touch for several months, as she hadn't agreed with my choice to join the force—it always took her awhile to understand. I was used to her not being in touch for months at a time; but this had been the longest period of time we'd not kept in contact in my life.

I'd just gotten back to the station after and I was in my suit. Noah and I were comparing leads on our newest case when I heard a familiar voice.

"Blair honey, I figured you were working. I came straight here. I have a few days and decided it was time I spent it with my son." She looked around. "Where's Jim? I have a terrific recipe for tongue; I know he'll like it." She noticed the general unease as she said Jim's name.

"Is Jim okay? He's not hurt is he?" Say what you want about my mother, but she's a tender-hearted soul. She doesn't like anybody or anything to be hurting.

"Jim's okay, at least he was when I left this morning." I muttered

Gentleman Jim worked better hours than a lowly police detective. He'd just woke up, had a cute case of very short bedhead, when I left. "Mom I'd like you to meet my partner Detective Noah Brady. Noah I'd like for you to meet Naomi Sandburg my mother."

"What?!" Naomi said a lot in just one word.

Captain Simon Banks came to my rescue; he'd been in yet another meeting with Commissioner Franklin "Naomi Jim's no longer with the department. He's working in the private sector. It's nice to see you again, but if you'll excuse me I have several phone calls I need to return." He headed to his office, it appeared the latest meeting with Franklin didn't go well. I wondered if we'd have another case fall into our laps in the very near future.

"Ms. Sandburg" Noah started to say.

"Call me Naomi" Mom didn't like anyone calling her Missus or worse yet Miss Sandburg.

"Naomi, Blair and I've been partners over three months, I'm glad to finally meet you. Blair's said so many kind things about you." Noah's upbringing had been much more traditional than mine, but Naomi couldn't fault his manners. It was very obvious his mother drilled into him the social graces.

"I can't say the same,though it's not his fault. I've been out of touch. I was going to take Blair for lunch. You can join us if you want."

"Thank you very much for the offer but I'm meeting my wife." Noah replied "maybe later."

It was a nice late summer day, in the low eighties, even Cascade has this sunny variety. I took Naomi to my favorite hot-dog stand, they had the best vegetarian dog I'd ever tasted. Once she tasted a bite she seconded my opinion, and we walked over to the fountains to enjoy our lunch.

As I fully expected her to Naomi asked what was going on, why everyone from the Captain on down to Rhonda tensed when she'd mentioned Jim's name. She may appear a ditz but she's very perceptive.

She was stunned to hear Jim was dismissed because of an event which had occurred years earlier.

"He couldn't prove he was a juvenile when the crimes occurred. Everyone else involved is either deceased or incapacitated, they said he lied on his application and tossed him on his ear."

Naomi asked what Jim was doing. She knew he'd inherited money from his mother's estate; if he was careful Jim didn't have to work another day in his life. I told her Jim had gone to work for a local "businessman" as a bodyguard and assistant, he was even an advisor. I told her Jim could've easily got gone to work at Ellison Enterprises the family company.

Naomi was stupefied to hear straight-arrow Jim was working for someone with a less than a stellar record. And Hans Cueva didn't have the positive business record his father did.

"According to what little Jim's told me in the past few months Cueva isn't the same guy he was when Jim was undercover years ago." He said the guy must have gotten religion or something; he was trying his best to reform his ways.

My problem was soon becoming a departmental problem. When Cueva moved his headquarters from Seattle the crime rate exploded. At least the petty crimes were, some of it done by foot soldiers in Cueva's army. The only problem, we couldn't pin anything major on him or his top brass. Even the little guys in the organization. It seemed they had advance warning when the police were closing in. If anyone was nabbed doing anything illegal or illicit they were working on their own.

"Maybe Jim's using his senses and helping the guy out" Naomi pointed out. I'd tried my best to ignore that particular possibility.

"If he is he'll be charged with obstruction of justice, as a former cop he won't last long in prison. I'm afraid that wouldn't be the only thing they'd charge him with. I'm worried." I turned to look at Mom, face to face.

"I'm called into IA at least once a week. I'm gonna move out. Me, mister can handle anything, this is getting too much for me to handle."

"Blair, honey, it may be for the best for you to move out. I know you and Jim have a special bond because he's a Sentinel. You have to look out for you. Please."

My mom might be a flake, but she cared for me deeply. "Because I screwed-up in sending the dissertation in to Sid I set in motion the events leading to that press conference; I know people still believe you're a fraud. That's entirely my fault Blair." She composed herself before she continued. "Your private life needs to be spotless for those vultures to not lump you together with what Jim's involved in. I'm sorry honey, but I really think its best you find someplace else. Jim will understand."

She was right, I needed to move out on my own. Thanks to a settlement from the publishing house and the university, along with a steady income and decent wage I easily had the money to buy a house. It was time for me to move on. Jim had.

We finished our dogs and just walked along the park. Naomi had her digital video camera with her, she was taking pictures to send to friends, this way they'd get to see the new me. Even if they didn't like my career choice.

Naomi was the first one to notice "Isn't Jim over there?" Fortunately her voice was low, I don't know if it were Sentinel low, she didn't point. I thanked God she'd spent time in parts of the world where pointing wasn't done with one's hands.

It was Jim. This was not good because Jim was talking with known members of the Pardo Street gang. I saw the exchange myself, he gave one of them a thick envelope, it likely contained cash, I fervently prayed it wasn't drugs; in trade they gave him a large brown envelope. Again I fervently prayed it didn't contain drugs.

My only backup was Naomi, who stood transfixed, she was that stunned.

I was heart sick.The only problem, I didn't have enough probable cause to arrest anyone. Naomi had the presence of mind to keep filming the park. I knew we had go back to the precinct and magnify that section of the video. Hopefully I wouldn't be damning Jim to prison.

I had the sinking feeling after taking a closer look at the video I'd have to arrest my best friend.

We headed back and I commandeered a conference room as it had all the equipment I needed. There were DVD discs and players there. I downloaded Naomi's video onto a disc, fast-forwarded to the point I needed to watch, thankful nothing incriminating my pot-smoking mother was on there. I called a technician in, she did her magic, taking the clip Jim was in and enlarging each frame, putting them on another disc.

Sandra the tech, was sobbing by the time she was done; she'd just assisted in Jim's downfall. She'd seen a lot in her career, but this was personally heartbreaking, she knew the person involved personally. She wasn't the only one.

I gathered my composure. I knew Naomi was heartbroken, but right now she was comforting Sandra. I had to go get Simon and so went down the hall to his office. I needed to tell him in person before showing him the evidence.

"Sandburg you look like you just lost your best friend. I saw your mom earlier, someone die?"

I shook my head and braced myself for what I had to say. I know it wasn't exactly kosher, but I sat down, not trusting my legs to stay upright.

"Captain Banks, when Naomi and I were at lunch I saw something, Naomi happened to have her video camera with her and shot the entire incident. I couldn't prove anything at the time so they all left the scene. Mom and I came back, we enlarged that part of the video."

Banks was giving me the stop rambling Sandburg and get to the point look. "What I'm trying to say. I have Jim and two known members of the Pardo Street on tape, and believe me, what's on tape it... it's not good."

"Are you positive?" The captain seemed years older than when I'd entered his office moments earlier.

"Unfortunately, I am, I have the evidence in Conference room 23. I know you'll want to see it for yourself." This needed to be done by the book. " I'll get a search warrant for the loft, wish I'd dusted last night" I muttered derisively. Simon knew why I'd said that. Evidence there could only implicate Jim further. Simon followed me to see the evidence himself.

In the interim Sandra had left. Naomi, well she appeared disappointed, I'd seen William Ellison look that way several times in the past few months when he talked about Jim. Thinking about it Simon looked this way when Darryl did something stupid. It must be a parental thing. From where I stood I saw Simon's face mirror Naomi's. Pure disappointment in someone they cared deeply for. I didn't know mine was the same.

"Sandburg I've seen enough. There is probable cause to pick Jim up for questioning along with those mutts he met with. Get id's from gang task force and bring in but get Jim first. Take Noah and Megan with you when you get Jim."

His tone of voice changed. "This is just great. Now I have to tell Commissioner Franklin. He's wanted to know for weeks if we could tie Harmon Markus brass to a major crime. It looks like we finally have. Unfortunately for Jim."

Sssssssssssss

I went downstairs to gang task force where I gave Sergeant Miguel Morales a look at the pictures. Luckily I had a few pictures without Jim. They were quickly identified as senior lieutenants, a Ramon Estrada and Enrique Esteves. All I told Miguel was they were suspects in a drug buy I didn't want to bring them in at this time because we were about to bring in their supplier. I'd let him know when to bring 'em in.

With a heavy heart I went up to Major Crimes and Noah and Megan to go with me to the conference room; we needed to talk. I then showed them the damning video.

Megan was understandably upset, she'd been one of the few people still on Jim's side throughout the past few months. "Cap wants us to bring Jim in, hopefully the pictures are misleading. Megan, I understand if you want to decline, I want to decline, Jim won't expect his own roommate to do it."

"Can't you just talk to him, maybe there's an explanation, a completely legitimate reason he gave them the packets." Inspector Connor was torn between being a friend and doing her job.

"Captain wants to make sure we do this by the book, I don't blame him. He used to be highly respected cop. You've sat in on the briefings, this Cueva was a major player at one time. I think the feds want to find something on him." I turned the DVD player off and ejected the disks putting them in evidence bags. "Jim's supposed to be at the loft this afternoon; he tends to work from home on the day 'Hans' meets with his probation officer."

"This might be tricky; Jim'll hear us coming a mile away, literally."

I smiled a small smile "I'd use the white noise generators to confuse him, if I had any here at the station, anything I've used in the past to "deaden" his senses is now at the loft."

Noah came up with a workable solution "Your mom's visiting right?" I nod my head. "If she drops by the loft, unannounced. Jim'll call here letting you know she's in town. You then go home "early," we stop by a few minutes later with the excuse of working on a really stressful case which this is by the way. If our heart beats are elevated Jim'll think its in regard to the highly stressful case we can't talk to him about."

I figured Jim would not resist arrest and come along peaceably if Naomi were in the room. It was unorthodox but we decided to do it that way. This also gave me time to get any warrants I'd need signed. The evidence made its way to where it belonged and Brady, Conner and I went to get warrants.

Mom left to go 'surprise' Jim. If, for some reason, he wasn't at the loft she'd call.

As I was a resident of the apartment in question there wasn't a question of access, but the loft was in Jim's name, we wanted to do this by the book, legally. There were times I'd stop by the loft during working hours. Usually it was as simple as needing to change clothes, or grabbing a bite to eat. Since Jim's dismissal I tried not to it on the days Jim worked from home, I didn't want to come across anything illicit, but that ploy wasn't going to work today.

If this were to work at all, I needed to calm down. Jim would be able to sense, even without being a sentinel if I was apprehensive about something. I didn't want to alert him so I told myself to treat it like I was undercover and about to bust some big fish. I kept telling myself that during the drive to the loft. Megan had already taken Mom's statement while we were getting the evidence logged and securing the needed warrants. For whatever reason she and my mother had hit it off. It was done informally, but legally.

"Chief your mom said she left a message for you at the station saying she was here. You made good time" Jim commented as he let the three of us into the loft. "Connor, Brady" he acknowledged the others.

"Hi, Naomi, you didn't say you were going to be here." I said giving my mother a hug. I wasn't obfuscating, she hadn't said anything about a visit before showing up at the precinct. How could she, we hadn't seen or talked to each other in months.

I decided to bite the bullet. I didn't want my heartrate to escalate any further than it had to be already.

"Jim. Naomi and I saw something today, at lunch. I need to ask you a few questions." I hoped my tone was informal, I'd been less nervous giving my first class as a teachers assistant.

"Shoot" Jim said, leaning against the couch. He looked relaxed, not a bit apprehensive; maybe what I'd seen was a red herring.

"At approximately 1234 we have two witnesses that put you at Ryker Park. You were seen in the company of known felons, the two you were allegedly seen with are known lieutenants in the Pardo Street gang. An exchange of envelopes occurred." I bit the bullet. "Jim tell me what exactly was exchanged."

"I'll admit I met with Ramon and Enrique. They wanted to know what Harmon Markus will do with their apartment complex, apparently we just bought the building. I gave them information on other properties the corporation owns, you satisfied?" Jim was relaxed, but his tone at the end was mocking.

I looked over to Megan, she nodded her head in agreement. "Jimbo, we need you to go down to the precinct for questioning. You'll be a gentleman about it, and come along peaceably?" She asked without asking with her tone of voice.

He nodded. "Should I call my lawyer and have him meet us ?" The attorneys for Harmon Markus sure earned their pay. As often as they were called down to the precinct they might as well had their own parking spots.

Since I was standing next to the phone I handed it over. Jim was quick about it, and we couldn't detect any code words that might be alerting his underlings. Jim was ready to go a minute later.

Even though we had the evidence something was exchanged, we couldn't prove conclusively anything illicit was traded. Jim wasn't exactly thrilled that I'd questioned him at the station; he told me quite publically it could've been done at the loft and I told him there was enough going on that I had to do it at the station.

If I thought things were chilly between us before that incident, they went positively arctic the next few weeks. It took me that long to get things squared away. I didn't trust, couldn't trust Jim anymore. I knew Jim was lying about the meet with Pardo Street, but couldn't prove it.

Jim and I had agreed years ago, when I did decide to move out, I'd give him two weeks notice. I told him on the fifteenth. Since I needed to buy several large ticket items, like furniture, and a bed, I decided it would be best to find a furnished apartment or find another roommate.

I did tell Jim that I'd still work with him regarding anything sentinel related, other than that I wished not to have contact with him for the time being, the hurt was too deep. It was obvious we both had issues to work through stemming from the Alex Barnes era. I'll admit this time the break was 'better' but I knew it had to be a clean break at least for the time being.

When Steven and William heard I was leaving the loft and the reason why, they insisted I still be Uncle Blair to his kids. They were complete innocents in this debacle. I told them I'd be honored to, provided Jim wasn't there. William told me that both he and Steven had requested Jim not have contact with the kids, except for cards. They didn't want Scott or Sherrie exposed to the danger in Jim's life. I was in complete agreement, they needed little contact for their own safety.

During the next few months Jim was questioned, along with other officials, by and in the media, if the company leadership was completely legitimate and above board in its dealings. It appeared the company itself was rotten to the core despite assurances the officials in the company were rehabilitated. No amount of protestations from the company seemed to quell the rumors.

As I said I would I moved out the end of September. It was ideal, Josh Hardy a patrol officer at central, needed a temporary roommate until his wedding in December. I'd agreed. This would give me time to find a house I loved.

ssssss

It was nearly Thanksgiving, I for one, wasn't feeling the least bit thankful. Thanks to public pressure, the noose was tightening around the neck of the leadership of the Harmon Markus organization, and I knew Jim was squarely in the middle of the mess.

We now had incontrovertible proof the top brass at the company were in it up to their eyeballs. The only reason we hadn't busted the whole group already was federal agents were brought in back in September.

I feared for Jim if he were arrested, I knew how he'd been after the stint at Starkville when he'd been undercover. A prison sentence of any time would be a death sentence for a sentinel.

Finally after what seemed like endless delays on the part of the feds, the go-ahead was given for a raid on the company headquarters late on Friday before the Thanksgiving holiday. The feds would be in charge. The raid would take place at four in the afternoon, timed right this would give most of the accused a weekend in jail before appearing in court for arraignment.

I thought that was sneaky smart, as some of these alleged white collar criminals would take the time in lockup to realize they were in way over their heads and give up information they might not if they only spent overnight in a jail cell. Depending on how high up the food chain they were they might even avoid jail if they cooperated.

sssssss

To my relief everything went smoothly during the raid. It was almost like we had someone on the inside helping us. Hans Cueva, along with Jim and the other high-ranking officers of the company were arrested without incident.

Back at Major Crimes we'd agreed none of the "local" officers would be the one to arrest Jim. It had to be a fed.

It was hard enough for us to know Jim would likely be sent to prison for several years. What we now had on him was not good at all. It appeared he'd broken more than a few federal crimes since his departure from the department.

If we, the state of Washington, didn't prosecute him the feds gladly would. I hoped and prayed Steven's kids would understand why I'd arrested Uncle Jim. I hoped Steven and his father could. I could barely understand why myself.

The "ruling council" at Harmon Markus were all in a meeting when the arrests occurred. "Gentlemen, ladies. Nearly all you have will be arrested. We have warrants for various and sundry alleged crimes." Special Agent in Charge Wiley Carpenter said as we entered the room simultaneously from several doors.

As to be expected Jim started to protest as did the others, but there were a more than a few guns drawn by the federal agents which quelled most protestations at least the non-verbal variety.

It would be my bad luck to draw the guy sitting next to Jim as my arresting suspect so I was able to hear words I knew I'd hear in my nightmares for weeks and months to come. As my guy was older, in his early seventies, and taking awhile to stand up, he was obviously having physicall difficulty I just let him stand on his own but keeping an eagle eye, just in case he was deceiving me.

"James Joseph Ellison, you are under arrest for suspicion of money laundering, drug possession, and a litany of other crimes too numerous to mention right now." Carpenter proceeded to read Jim his Miranda rights. The look Jim gave me and the others could have melted steel. The thing was he wasn't the only one giving me the look. There was a hint of resignation in his eyes, like he knew this day was coming.

sssss

All those who'd were arrested were taken to the federal building for processing. There they were booked and fingerprinted. I was busy dealing with all the paperwork coming with arrests like this. I knew I didn't expect to get home until early Saturday morning if at all. There would be no weekend for Major Crimes. It was nearly three in the morning when I walked in the door of Josh Hardy's and my apartment. It would be a short night, I had to be back at the station at eight for my regular shift.

Saturday morning the station was quiet, all the action was taking place at the federal level. I'd been on the periphery of this case because of my involvement with Jim and I was left with doing my regular duty and covering everyone else's desk.

To tell the truth I was glad I was going to be busy this weekend, if I had any time on my hands I'd likely get plastered. Wasn't there something in the handbook for guides of Sentinels about Sentinels not using their gifts for good? Of course, there was no book like that in the world, unless I wrote it. Maybe there was something I could do with my rare free time since Jim had been arrested.

I'd called William before the raid, telling him what we were going to do; it was only fair, as he hadn't had any contact with his own son since Naomi's disastrous visit. I know he hadn't talked to his eldest son because William said he was going to give Jim some time to come to his senses. If Jim didn't contact his father by Christmas William was going to lay down ground rules for Jim.

He was welcome to family gatherings, alone, and talk about business would not be tolerated. This was a big switch from when Jim and Steven were growing up.

William told me he'd screwed up with his sons, he didn't want his grandchildren exposed to the criminal element in business. If Jim insisted on working for Cueva he'd have to limit his access to the family. William had assured me he wouldn't take my actions as a police officer against me in the likely arrest of his son. I hoped it was the case now that the arrest had occurred.

I got to the station at eight and had the squad room to myself. I didn't have more than an hour of paperwork left to do on the Cueva bust, but I wanted to get it done as soon as I could. Sure enough the phone rang and my day started with a proverbial bang.

The criminal element doesn't take the weekend off. I barely had time to grab a bite to eat, I was kept busy the entire shift. The only advantage I had working this weekend was I'd have the holiday weekend off. But it didn't seem like there would be many reasons to give thanks and I was seriously considering asking someone who was scheduled to work Thursday if I could trade shifts.

I'd promised Joel I'd take his shift over a month ago, so I worked Sunday as well, Joel's church was having a special service and he'd been asked to speak on something or other. The day was quieter, which I was glad for, it gave me a chance to get caught up on all the paperwork I'd let accumulate over the past week.

Even though we had records clerks, it still was incumbent on us to return the files to records in a timely manner. I decided as the day had been slow to get my files caught up. Noah was working as well, after getting him to "watch the store and page me if we got any calls, I took my stack down to the basement where finally I managed to finagle a date with Cornelia, one of the new and might I say HOT, records clerks, (think a blend of Paris Hilton and Pam Anderson and you get the picture) I'd timed the trip downstairs in such a way, that provided I didn't get any last minute calls; I'd head home when I got back upstairs and be done with my shift.

I went back upstairs to get my coat. The coat rack had been moved closer to Simon's office at his request, I was busy thinking about what I wanted for dinner when I heard.

ssssss

"Hi Chief, miss me?"

There he was looking as about as carefree as I'd seen Jim Ellison in months, if not years, if not ever. What was he doing out of jail? Had his father bailed him out after all, I knew Jim didn't have that kind of money for bail. I knew all the suspects assets were to be frozen as of close of business Friday.

Jim was standing with Simon in the bullpen. He had a look of relief on his face; like a weight the size of the Statue of Liberty was now off his shoulders. That was surprising enough, but with Jim stood Hans Cueva, with an equally relieved appearance. Walking in behind those two were none other than Commissioner Franklin and the head federal attorney for this area, along with District Attorney Charles Walker.

Everyone was all smiles. Something was up. I had the sneaking suspicion, I'd been had for the past several months.

"I have to hand it to you Hans; I never thought you'd pull it off" Walker said to the aging 'gangster'.

"Pull what off?" My voice came out as a squeak to my embarrassment. Jim just smirked.

"I only want to go through this once so you'll just have to wait Sandburg" Simon ordered. "Everyone will be here shortly. We've arranged to use the commander's lounge." We headed that direction, and I didn't have to wait long for 'everyone'.

The first to appear were Steven, William and Martha Ellison. Rafe, Joel and Henri came in just a moment after they did. Connor and Rhonda close at their heels. I knew Noah had run down to the coffee shop, he was on a four to twelve shift. He was the only one not there.

I do believe everyone had the same reaction on their face I did when they saw Jim.

"This past February Hans Cueva came to me, he informed me he'd been approached by certain individuals from his past who 'strongly urged' him to renew their business dealings. He didn't want to any more time in prison, he knew we wouldn't believe he'd really got out of the business." Franklin started after everyone was sitting down, most of us with a much needed cup of coffee. To our astonishment, the caffeine was from Simon's stash. The good stuff we normally can smell but cannot taste.

Cueva took over the commentary. "I had an idea I knew it might work; so I talked with the Commissioner and the federal attorney secretly. They agreed my idea had merit, but they needed someone on the 'inside'. Cueva said; his accent from Eastern Europe was still with him even after thirty-five years in America.

"That's were Jim comes in? Am I right?" I interrupted.

"You hit the nail on the head" Simon said chuckling. A chuckle I was glad to hear, it was a sound missing from Major Crimes for several months. Thinking about it, since February.

William Ellison took over and I was surprised, and by the looks of it, so were Jim's brother and sister and law, what he said. "I figured your story was 'fishy' when you said Judge Vince Carver had end-stage Alzheimer's."To the rest of the group he explained. "If anyone bothered to check the validity of Jim's statement they'd have found, yes he's there at the facility, but it's his wife that's dying of that dreaded disease, apparently she's had it for over a decade. Vince has Parkinson's, and from what the judge said yesterday he probably won't live another six weeks himself," William said.

"If Hans hadn't come forward when he did there would have been no way for Vince to corroborate Jimmy's story of what happened that night am I right, Josh?" Megan Connor asked.

Commissioner Franklin just nodded.

William Ellison continued "After Jimmy was fired, I 'ran into'Simon at a meeting, and pulled him aside, and asked point-blank. "Is Jimmy undercover?"

"I about swallowed my teeth that day." Simon recounted. "How do you think that?" I asked you after I recovered; we thought we had Jim's cover story airtight."

"The dates I heard you talk about that night, along with the what you said about Vinny. I figured something was up." To Jim, to the rest of us, I told Simon 'Don't worry, I'll keep quiet about this; I don't want to endanger Jimmy's life.' " William seemed happy to get this secret off out.

"I've kept your father abreast of the situation. We did it by email, at home, in fact I used an old email of Darryl's. After asking him to encrypt it for me, In exchange, Ellison Enterprises will give my son a small scholarship. It was the only way we could keep the emails private." Simon explained to us.

"What happened in Tacoma with Pete and the police really did happen; only the dates were off. It occurred a month before my birthday. It was easily considered a juvenile offense. If it had occured today, I would've seen mandatory jail time." Jim confessed. "Judge Vince Carver _did_ give me the option of enlisting or jail time. I'd been thinking about going and enlisting, not seriously, but it had crossed my mind before the incident." Jim confessed to the group who were relieved to hear the whole story was not not a set up.

When I heard Jim's father say he'd figured it out early on I thought back and recognized several now obvious signs I'd missed"

1) The meetings with Franklin and Simon before Jim's supposed firing,

2). the growing 'tension' between Jim and Simon had been out of the ordinary.

3) Jim's job offer fromo Cueva so immediately after being 'fired' from the department. Come to think about it, the news was barely over before Jim received that phone call.

4) Jim had supposedly not using his senses for justice like a Sentinel should.

There had been other signs, smaller signs I didn't catch. I felt like a fool. I couldn't have been alone in my feelings. Turns out I wasn't the only one who had been hoodwinked by our own.

Simon admitted in front of everyone, "Sandburg, I couldn't say anything to you. We needed your reactions to be genuine, no matter how natural an obfuscator you are. We needed to have the loft be bugged, we couldn't tell you that either. It was for your own safety." Some detective I was, I hadn't noticed the bugs.

"Chief, I understand if you don't want to come back to live at the loft." Jim said

"Jim, I'll be back in a couple of weeks, I told Hardy I'd stay until his wedding." This was getting into private areas in a public conversation so finished by saying "Jim I have an thing or two I want to discuss with you, but when we get home, provided all the bugs have been exterminated."

It actually took Jim a second longer than the others to figure out what I'd said. He started laughing, as did everyone else. It was the tension breaker that we all needed.

Joel then asked the question several of us not in on the plan had to be thinking, I know I was. "When are you coming back to Major Crimes?"

Jim's answer surprised us, even after an evening of surprises. "To make it appear completely legitimate I truly was fired."

"What!" the loudest reaction was from Henri and Rafe.

"Jim's expulsion from the force had to be look completely legitimate, to the point if anyone checked the records, and we knew they would, the paperwork was there."

"Like I said, are you coming back?" Joel reiterated.

"I can't until they go through all the paperwork, the governor said it might take up to six weeks, so in the meantime I am on call as a consultant to the department and will be paid a per diem for each day I actually consult. This works works out because Hans is going into the hospital for some tests, it may be awhile before he's ready to take over. So the days I'm not here I'll be acting CEO of Hans' company.

Everyone was glad to hear that, and it turned out that Jim was not called in during the time it took for his paperwork to wind its way through all the red tape to be reinstated, By that time Hans was well enough to resume leadership of his company while training his successor. Steven Ellison, on Jim's strong and glowing recommendation, was asked by Hans to take control of the company and the Ellison brothers would have equal shares in his company upon his death.

It turned out that Jim did come back to the department, the governor appointed him to head a regional taskforce. Officers from several different cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, would work together to reduce crime in various areas, the types of crimes, that often were done by various crime gangs, by having a regional clearinghouse, instead of being city wide or state wide, the hope was that by noticing patterns when they were smaller the crimes were solved sooner or stopped alltogether. Jim had accepted the position with the caveat the taskforce be based in Cascade.


End file.
